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<p>Minesweeper is a deceptively simple test of memory and reasoning—and one of the most popular Windows games of all time. The goal: find the empty squares and avoid the mines.</p>
<p>Sounds easy, right?</p>
<h2>Minesweeper: rules and basics</h2>
<h2>The object</h2>
<p>Find the empty squares while avoiding the mines. The faster you clear the board, the better your score.</p>
<h2>The board</h2>
<p>Minesweeper has three standard boards to choose from, each progressively more difficult.</p>
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      <p><strong>Beginner: </strong>81 tiles, 10 mines</p>
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      <p><strong>Intermediate:</strong>256 tiles, 40 mines</p>
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      <p><strong>Expert:</strong>480 tiles, 99 mines</p>
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 <p>You can also create a custom board by clicking the Game menu, and then clicking Options. Minesweeper supports boards of up to 720 squares and 668 mines.</p>
 <h2>How to play</h2>
  <p>The rules in Minesweeper are simple:</p>
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      <p>Uncover a mine, and the game ends.</p>
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      <p>Uncover an empty square, and you keep playing.</p>
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      <p>Uncover a number, and it tells you how many mines lay hidden in the eight surrounding squares—information you use to deduce which nearby squares are safe to click.</p>
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  <h2>Hints and tips</h2>
  <p><strong>Mark the mines.</strong> If you suspect a square conceals a mine, right-click it. This puts a flag on the square. (If you're not sure, right-click again to make it a question mark.)
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  <p><strong>Study the patterns. </strong> If three squares in a row display 2-3-2, then you know three mines are probably lined up beside that row. If a square says 8, every surrounding square is mined.</p>
  <p><strong>Explore the unexplored. </strong>Not sure where to click next? Try clearing some unexplored territory. You're better off clicking in the middle of unmarked squares than in an area you suspect is mined.</p>
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